ContRap
The symbolic tool for software rapid prototyping
Installation and system requirements
Installation topics

Go to the installation instructions for your system or your configuration.

System requirements

ContRap is a CMake-based C++ project. It also uses Qt for graphical user interface construction. CMake is required to compile any of the ContRap components. Qt is only required for tools and plugins, which comprise graphical user interfaces. All other libraries are only essential for parts of ContRap. The corresponding packages will not compile or compile without the features provided by the missing libraies.

The following lists the packages together with the preferred version.

Required packages:
  • CMake version 2.6 (Required by all packages)
  • Qt version 4.2 (Required by GUI, QtPlugins)
Optional packages for plugins:
  • ImLib2 version 1.4 (required for Libraries, BasePlugins)
  • Astyle (required for C++ code indentation in the IDE)
  • OpenCV version 2.0 (required for OpenCV plugins)
  • Qt version 4.3 (required for Libraries, IDE, Qt plugins)
  • QWT version 5.1 (required for Libraries, QWT plugins)
  • LAPACK version 3.0 (required for LAPACK plugins)
  • GiNaC version 1.4 (required for GiNaC symbolic interface)
Installation on Debian Linux

The ContRap packages on Debian Linux are ready to go. You can start using ContRap after downloading and installing the packages.

Installation from sources on UNIX

For a rapid installation without custom configuration the only thing you need is the script called ''install'' in the root ContRap directory. Use this script unless you want to customize the installation, i.e. for example to change the installation path or compiler flags.

./install

The script might report errors in some plugin packages, which require one of the above libraries not installed on your system. You can ignore the errors, if you do not need those plugins.

If you want to install ContRap into a different base folder (e.g. if you want to have a local ContRap installation without root privileges) than the default (which is ''/usr/local'' on UNIX) you have to pass the installation path to the ''install'' script. The following command installs ContRap for example into the Library directory on Mac OS:

./install /Users/MyName/Library/ContRap

Be sure to define (e.g. add to your .bashrc-file) the proper linker and executable paths for your installation target in advance before calling the ''install'' script. Read more about the ContRap configuration here.

Installation from sources on Windows

For a rapid installation on windows you have to run the ''install.bat'' script placed in the root ContRap directory.

./install

The script might abort with an error message, if some of the plugin packages does not compile. Remove the line corresponding to the plugin package from the install script to finish the compilation.

Custom installation from sources on UNIX

For custom installation you have to proceed as follows for each of the subdirectories in the root ContRap directory starting with the ''ContRap''-folder. This directory contains the ContRap core, which is required to compile and install all the other packages.

You will find a script called ''configure'' in the root directory of each component. The script provides CMake with essential information for the custom build on your system.

If you are not a developer and simply want to be able to run ContRap on your machine just type in each component folder

./configure .
make
make install

This will produce an in-tree build of ContRap and will install it to the default directories on your machine:

  • Shared libraries will be installed to /usr/local/lib/,
  • Plugin libraries are in /usr/local/lib/contrap/,
  • Include files are in /usr/local/include/contrap/, and
  • ContRap binaries will be installed to /usr/local/bin/.
If you want a different installation directory run configure with the --prefix option with INSTALL_DIR substituted for the base installation directory you desire (INSTALL_DIR then replaces the default base /usr/local/). If you want an out-of-source build replace ''.'' with the build directory like sketched below.

./configure --prefix=INSTALL_DIR BUILD_DIRECTORY

The other possible options to the ''configure'' script are listed below:

  • --develop: Add developer information to your plugins (e.g. source paths, etc.) this will enable you to open the plugin sources by simply double-clicking them in the IDE,
  • --debug: Add debugger symbols to the ContRap installation,
  • --release: Make a release installation (default),
  • --eclipse: Add Eclipse project files,
  • --doc: Create documentation files.

See the CMake documentation for more details on out-of-source building. Once the installation has succeded, you may delete the build as well as the souce directory.

Configuration

Independently from your installation way, you should check if the following configuration settings are applied.

Define (e.g. add to your .bashrc-file or add to your system preferences) the proper linker and executable paths. For the installation with prefix ''path'' you will have to add the system-specific definitions listed below.

On Linux the you have to define:

export PATH = $PATH:path/bin
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH = $LD_LIBRARY_PATH:path/lib:path/lib/contrap

On Mac OS the you have to define:

export PATH = $PATH:path/bin
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH = $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH:path/lib:path/lib/contrap

On Windows the you have to add in your system preferences to the environment variables:

PATH = $PATH;path\bin;path\lib;path\lib\contrap
CONTRAP_INSTALL_PATH = path

Be sure to apply the above settings before you compile any of the plugin packages.